Casa Alea is a 120-square-metre private residence occupying a single floor of a 1970s apartment building in Fossano, a town with a population of around 25,000 in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont. Originally designed with a rigid layout and clearly separated rooms in accordance with the spatial concept that was in vogue fifty years ago, it has been transformed into a modern home centred around the living area.
“We went right back to the drawing board,” says interior designer Elisa Mondino, who led the project. “The spaces were completely reorganised in terms of layout and function to enhance the living area and make it the heart of the home.” The painstaking renovation work preserved the essence of the original design, incorporating subtle vintage touches inspired by the character and period of the original apartment. Examples of this approach include the environmentally-friendly option of restoring the existing doors and the choice of sustainable materials such as the Silk ceramic tile collection from Tonalite. In 2023, the tile manufacturer obtained third-party Certiquality certification that its products comply with the international standard “ISO 17889-1 — Sustainability for ceramic tiles”, the new standard for assessing the level of sustainability of ceramic tiles in construction. The product selected for Casa Alea is a glazed porcelain stoneware tile available in 11 colours and 5 sizes, which for this project was chosen in the chalk-coloured version both for the kitchen (in a 10×30 cm bevelled-edge format, coordinating with the mud-coloured doors and the wood countertop) and for the bathroom (in a 7.5×15 cm size alongside the grey-white floor tiles). “I initially chose Tonalite tiles for the kitchen due to their references to tradition combined with a dynamic texture that gives them a less classic feel,” continues the interior designer. “As a consequence, I also chose tiles from the same collection for the bathroom. After choosing a highly prominent floor, I needed a neutral but characterful tile that would also fit in with the apartment’s tradition and age.”
The result is a cosy and spacious home with a strong but discreet character that references the currently very popular Scandinavian vintage style.
